Value chain for field beans with Frontier Agriculture Ltd (United Kingdom)

Key challenges for the UK are to maintain supply of good quality faba beans for seed, animal feed and human consumption and to develop innovative new markets for faba bean products. Inability to consistently realise full yield potential and grower decisions not to include faba beans in rotations can lead to gaps in production for all faba bean markets in some years. The widening gap in annual margins between cereal and faba bean production, as well as policy decisions at national and European levels, adds further to lack of uptake of faba beans.

The case study will focus on the value chain for field beans, working with Frontier Agriculture Ltd., one of the leading UK grain traders and exporters of faba beans, and other members of the trade. Frontier Agriculture has a close relationship with PGRO (Processors and Growers Research Organisation), farmers and grain consumers. Operating across all aspects of arable crop production and grain marketing, Frontier supplies seed, crop protection products and fertiliser to farmers, as well as providing specialist agronomy advice through a team of 140 agronomists.

The project gives the opportunity to evaluate and review the features of this value chain using surveys and interviews of different stakeholders along it in order to establish their legume know-how and benefits and constraints experienced in developing the market.